The Savannah City Council has been pushing for the closing of the state’s Coastal Transitional Center as a way to increase public safety, but the effort has failed to gain necessary support.

No bills were introduced after the mayor and aldermen included the closure and relocation of the facility, where inmates are allowed to leave for work, among their priorities for the 2014 legislative session.

The city’s concerns were illustrated this week when two men were sentenced for armed robberies they committed after escaping the west Savannah facility. At least one state lawmaker said closing the facility would only lead to more crime.

Community concerns about inmates escaping or not returning from work have been an ongoing issue for years.

Alderman Van Johnson said those concerns prompted the City Council to request the closure of the 262-capacity facility that was built in 1940 and renovated in 2003.

“Residents say it is a nuisance,” Johnson said.

While the most recent escape occurred in September, Johnson said he fears more incidents may be ahead now that the weather is warming up.

Seven residents have escaped or failed to return from work since Jan. 1, 2013, according to records obtained by the Georgia Department of Corrections.

One resident, Cornelius Muckle, who has a history of burglary convictions, has been on the loose since escaping on July 19. A door alarm was found to be dysfunctional the night Muckle went missing, according to the escape report. A statewide lookout is still in effect for his recapture, said Gwendolyn Hogan, spokesman for the department of corrections.

The longest any of the other escapees were at large before being apprehended was about a month. Some ended up committing a crime while on the run.

Devante Bynes and Devon Tarver were sentenced to two concurrent life prison terms on Thursday for two armed robberies committed three days after they escaped through a broken window on May 18.

Frederick Rushing, who didn’t return from work on April 4, made headlines when he tried to elude capture in a canoe without a paddle and was arrested at Wormsloe Historic Site on May 2.

Sen. Lester Jackson, D-Savannah, said he did not introduce legislation to shut the facility down because he believes transitional centers are a good way to re-acclimate ex-offenders into society by providing necessary job training.

If someone is released straight from prison they have a increased chance of committing another crime, which ends up costing more tax dollars, Jackson said.

“We need more transitional centers,” he said.

Jackson did introduce a bill to increase the mandatory high school age from 16 years old to 17.5 years old, which was also one of the city’s legislative priorities, although the council asked for the age to be raised to 18. Jackson said he believes a completed high school education would help keep people out of prison in the first place.

The bill and a similar one introduced by Rep. Mickey Stephens, D-Savannah, that would allow school districts to voluntarily raise the age to 17 are not expected to be adopted this session, although both lawmakers said they were optimistic the bills would pass in 2015.

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With involvement from all of our locally elected state officials, these Legistrative Bills should have been attached to the Savannah St. Patricks Sunday Sales Bill. Then again these worthwhile legistrative bills to benefit Savannah's public safety and a committment to higher education for Georgia would have rendered all dead on arrival.

SwampWitch: giving them back to their grand parents is not practical. In some cases grand parents had to jump back into the workforce because the social security checks just don't stretch far enough. Chain gangs with guards & shotguns on the side of the road went out of style when we crossed-over into the 21st century. When these State Penitentaries get phased under privatization, the "work force" will barely get a subsistence allowance let alone any wages. Midtown Mojo: We even have criminals posting comments on savannahnow.com. Bet you didn't know that.